Eskimos Rookie Corners Ready To Be Picked On

02/07/2009 05:15

Herron, Keyes expect Bombers QB LeFors to look their way

They are very much a part of the team, but Bobby Keyes and Lamar Herron could be standing alone on Thursday, on their own little island.

As rookie cornerbacks in the Canadian Football League, you can bet your bottom dollar that they will be the objects of quarterback Stefan LeFors and coach Mike Kelly's desire when the Edmonton Eskimos kickoff the 2009 season against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday.

Keyes, likely a starter at the position, knows it, and expects it.

"Why wouldn't they pick on us? Two rookies, first time out crossing the border playing this game up here. If I was a quarterback I would pick on us, you know," admitted Keyes, who joins the Eskimos from the Dallas Desperados of the AFL. "But coaches have confidence in us and we have a lot of confidence in ourselves. I'm pretty sure we're going to make the plays and, yeah, they can bring it on."

And they will.

Any coach worth his salt will look at areas of raw recruits for a little exploitation. It's a part of the game. Whether they get to Keyes, or Herron if he sees the field will be the question. But that's football: key matchups, man-to-man scenarios.

"It's going to be a good test for us," said Keyes. "(Stefan) LeFors is a good quarterback. Winnipeg is a well coached team. LeFors can make things happen with his arm and his feet as well. He has happy feet when he plays. He can move quickly. I watched him play at (the University of) Louisville and he's dangerous."

Not that Keyes, considers himself to be a rookie, not after a few years of pro ball south of the border.

"Yeah, I'm a rookie up here, but I'm not a purebred rookie. Sure, Lamar is a purebred rookie, but we've been picking up the nuances of the game and all the different motion the receivers can do.

"The coaches have confidence in us and I believe we're going to do this as a total unit," said Keyes, who also had a brief taste of the NFL with Washington in 2005.

Herron comes in fresh after a college career at Oregon State and Texas Southern.

"It doesn't concern me at all," offered Esks middle linebacker Maurice Lloyd, of having the rookies at the corners.

"I don't care if you're a rookie or a vet, once you step inside the white lines the competition begins. I played with a rookie corner in James Johnson in Saskatchewan and he was our MVP in the Grey Cup, so regardless if you're a rookie or not, once you step on that field, you've become a vet."

But Johnson, who had three interceptions in the Riders' 2007 Grey Cup win, did start seven games at corner in 2006, so he couldn't be truly considered a raw rookie. Lloyd's point is taken, however.

"I'm pretty much staying focused and having fun," offered Herron, who loves the challenge of being out on the corner. "Some people play stronger in certain areas, to be out there by myself is what I want.

"The coaches have prepared us very well. I'm just going to take it practice by practice and stay focused on what's on the field."

Sometimes that's tougher than fans realize, especially for imports getting their first starts.

"It's been an adjustment, but football is football and the biggest adjustment is being 2,000 miles away from home when you've got your wife and kid at home and your wife is expecting. That's been the biggest adjustment," said Keyes, whose wife Zakia is back home with two-year-old Braylon and expecting Sean Cole on Aug 17.

That might just give him that extra motivation, out there on that island.

LeFors eager to pass first test.

SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:

The defensive secondary is one area where I still have major concerns about the Eskimo football club this year.